My name is Marsalis Smith and I’ve developed a love for creativity that has flourished since living in Chicago for the past decade. I came to Chicago from the southern part of the United States to earn my PhD in engineering. When not studying, you can find me at my favorite Makerspace, PumpingStationOne; my favorite dance studio, Latin Rhythms; or with some of my favorite people around the city.
I started messing around with power tools trying to fix stuff around the house trying to be frugal, and this slowly developed into a love for woodworking. Ironically, woodworking has had the opposite effect of trying to save money, but the delight of creating a project that started with only an idea had made it all worth it in the end. Not to mention the skills I have acquired throughout the years and challenges I’ve overcome.
In the future I hope to become a professor conducting research involving ways to cure paralytic conditions such as tetraplegia and paraplegia working with machines that directly interact with the brain. I hope to continuously make room for creative spaces within my field of research and within my personal life.
Thank you for spending time with me and I hope you either found something you want to call your own or maybe you found a little inspiration to do it yourself. Best of luck.